Media

The Future of Community Management

Community management has come a long way since the first Community Manager Appreciation Day in 2009. We're interacting with our audiences in new formats and on new platforms, such as Instagram and Pinterest. Our online conversations have become more sophisticated with tools that allow us to curate social updates and host live video chats. Success measurement is more streamlined, and we're shaping our strategies around both organic and paid growth.

But amidst the excitement of these advancements, it seems something has gotten lost. We've forgotten why we got into this business and what, at its core, it's really all about: people.

Before we move forward in 2013, let's get back to our roots. To do so, I'm penning a new mission statement for all community managers.

Focus on a Vested Community

Much of community managers' day-to-day work involves motivating people to take action: liking, sharing, commenting, etc. The tactics we use to spark this motivation can dictate the type of community we build.

To effectively construct a community around people and user experience rather than numbers, let's look at the two different types of motivators: extrinsic and intrinsic.

With extrinsic motivators, you offer an incentive to get your community members to take action.

When it comes to community management, an extrinsic reward usually involves offering the audience a discount or chance to win a prize for liking the company's Facebook page or retweeting a tweet from a certain Twitter account. But there's a catch. In his TED Talk, Dan Pink, author and career analyst, warns:

"These contingent motivators — if you do this, then you get that — work in some circumstances, but for a lot of tasks, they actually either don't work or, often, they do harm."

If your goal is to quickly get more followers or drive traffic to your site, the promise of a one-off discount can accomplish that.

But community managers looking to build a long-term strategy should aim higher. We want vested users. We want the people who will not only like our Facebook post but also walk into the store every weekend and make a purchase. We want fans who "@ mention" us daily and tell all their friends how much they love our product. That's what makes our job worthwhile.

Are these people doing these things because they received a small perk through social media? No.

People want to do things that matter. They have a desire to be a part of something with a larger purpose. If our goal as community managers is to acquire not just users but vested users, we need to harness our audience's drive to do things for their own sake. We need to tap into their intrinsic motivators.

Think User Experience

When I say people want to be a part of something that matters, I mean that in a proverbial way — but I also mean it in a practical way. People want to use products that provide utility. They want to get something out of their experience.

"People don’t buy your product because they like the product; they buy your product because they like themselves," Kathy Sierra, a programming instructor and game developer, said in her presentation "Building the Minimum Badass User".

This is the brand-user disconnect, according to Sierra: Community managers want users to think the brand is awesome — but users want to be awesome.

What makes users more awesome? A truly great product that helps them better do whatever it is they want to do.

As community managers, we're probably not the ones creating the product that will help our audience members reach their goals. But there are a few things we can do.

Own the feedback loop: Community managers are great listeners, constantly in tune with what people are saying and where they're saying it online. But what good is that feedback if it's not being turned into action? Establish a system for informing those making your products, content or whatever you create.

Google did a great job of this a little over a year ago when it asked users to provide suggestions for improving its Tasks feature. Users cast 185,000 votes on various new improvements they wanted to see.

Not only did Google integrate the top five suggestions, the company took it a step further by communicating the changes to its users in blog posts and a video, emphasizing it was user feedback that made the updates possible.

The key here is understanding how the teams in your organization communicate and how you can best weave the most useful feedback into their systems. Following up with users, so they know they were heard, will bring your feedback loop full circle.

Foster a positive experience on all touch points: From social networks and on-site engagement platforms to in-person events and even phone conversations, community managers are in touch with their brand's audience members just about everywhere.

While understanding your audience is the first rule of community management, understanding your medium is second. Know what communities exist on each platform and what type of communication works best for them. Track how people are responding to you in likes, retweets, sentiment analysis or whatever makes most sense for your business. Use this data to help make decisions about how you interact with your community.

Share valuable content: The beauty of social networking is that it gives everyone a voice. This means your community members are constantly being bombarded with updates from not only brands but also friends, family, celebrities, schools, church groups — the list is endless. Cut through your community members' noisy feeds by offering valuable updates.

GE's Facebook page is a great example. While its content is always branded with the GE logo, some of the company's best posts are unrelated to its products or initiatives. Rather, it focuses on what's useful for the audience, such as health tips, technology stats and news articles about innovation. More importantly, you can tell GE is paying attention. The company picks up on timely events and pop culture references, incorporating them in a way that makes sense for its audience.

Quit the Buzzwords

Speaking the same language as your audience requires stepping outside the community manager bubble, where you're living and breathing social media.

Something that might pop up as a trend in your feed could be non-existent to others. Speak to your community as humans — but don't be condescending. Consider the way you feel about the brands you follow, and how they to speak to you.

Here are a few terms to avoid:

"Meme": The majority of your audience doesn't know what this means. Just because you hang out on the Internet all day doesn't mean that they do. To them, "Hey Girl" is just a funny "thing" about the ridiculously good looking Ryan Gosling that someone posted on Facebook.

"Engagement": This word will never go away. It is ingrained in our day-to-day practices and overall measurement of success. Nevertheless, I encourage you to think about engagement in terms of its roots — connecting with individual people. Aim to benefit the user and the benefit to your brand will follow.

"Brands as publishers": Many community managers talk about content as the next big industry trend. I disagree. Brands have always been publishers. They have been publishing ads, which are forms content too.

The difference now is the types of ads brands traditionally created don't necessarily provide value to a social media user. Marketers designed traditional ads to make consumers want something they don't already have, whether it is a product, lifestyle or body image.

This type of content is unnatural on social media because these platforms are the ultimate vehicles of self-expression. People don't need brands to tell them what they want. The power of a status update is at their fingertips.

Overall, aim to be relatable by understanding the world your audience lives in.

Inspire and Be Inspired

Figuring out what motivates users, being integrated into their online experience and knowing how to relate to them all ties into understanding user behavior.

Most social networks, forums and commenting systems don't release user behavior data. This means you, as a community manager, are your company's insight into that invaluable information. By giving your organization a glimpse into how your audience will respond in an uncontrolled environment, you can help inform decisions about product launches, content strategy and any other customer-facing initiatives.

It's also important to think about how you communicate your insights internally. Represent your community by not only being an enthusiastic advocate but also an exemplary professional. Explain yourself in a way that makes sense to stakeholders.

If you hear yourself saying "they just don't get it," stop and think about how you're delivering your message — because it's your job to make them "get it." Your colleagues — particularly higher ups — will respect your community if they respect you, positioning you to help your organization make user-driven decisions.

As a community manager, it's your responsibility to make your community a better part of the Internet than where they started.

Don't let the siren song of clicks and likes cause you to forget that.

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